From unloved woods to desirable renewable biofuels

J. Barrette, C Durocher, N Mansuy, M Beland, E Thiffault

Forest operators leave harvest residues on site because they do not meet quality requirements for lumber and/or pulp production. These types of low-grade trees are often too dry or too rotten, which restricts their suitability for the conventional forest industry.  Although they are unfit for lumber or solid wood products, these “unloved” woods represent an attractive source of biomass for the production of renewable bioenergy (including liquid biofuels) because they do not compete with fibre supplies of other forest industries.